The Eisner Award is the Oscar of the comic
book publishing world and as such is a seriously big deal.

It is named for Will Eisner (1917 - 2005)
writer and cartoonist who is widely credited with coining and popularising the phrase Graphic Novel. His 1985 book Comics & Sequential Art hanseled the modern
era of comics as vehicles capable of carrying complex and sophisticated stories
worthy of critical analysis.

If that all sounds a bit high falutin,
here's Allan Moore to cut through the BS:

"Eisner is the single person most responsible for giving comics its
brains."

Stan Lee put it pretty well, too:

"Will Eisner was to comics what Babe Ruth was to baseball."

(The work of Moore & Lee featured
earlier in this Comic Book London Tour – see HERE, HERE for Moore and HERE for Stan Lee.)

Given that this is a Cartoon & Comic
Book Tour of London, I'll point you not only in the direction of Orbital, but
of Eisner's most famous London-themed work: Fagin The Jew.

Eisner's 2003 work takes the form of an
interview conducted by Dickens with Fagin (of Oliver Twist infamy) on the night
before the latter is hanged.

The narrative is a bold confrontation of anti-Semitic
stereotypes in literature and, as such, is powerful indeed. Eisner's approach
reminds me of that of a method actor getting into a role: where does the
character come from? How did he get to be this way?

As Fagin's journey is
unfolded, we learn of the plight of the Ashkenazi Jews in London, the hardships
and prejudices they endured. These, Eisner suggests, are the factors that shaped Fagin's character. The Fagin that emerges by the book's end is a far
more complex individual than the villain in Dickens's original.

In encouraging us to walk a mile in another
man's shoes, Eisner ends up penning a Graphic Novel not only for Fagin, nor
only for the Jewish immigrant experience, but for every Londoner. If you are a Londoner who has ever been proud of the slogan #LondonIsOpen Eisner's Fagin
the Jew is a must read.

Fagin the Jew is published by Dark Horse.

You can find Orbital Comics on Great Newport Street here…

In a post planned for 2017 I'll return to
the work of Dickens through the illustrations of Cruikshank and the many artists
who have brought the great writer's characters alive on the page

I'll also be returning to Orbital in the Christmas Shopping series later this month!

A
London Walk costs £10 – £8 concession. To join a London Walk, simply meet your
guide at the designated tube station at the appointed time. Details of all
London Walks can be found at www.walks.com.

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The picture at the top of The Daily Constitutional changes regularly. This week - the Coade stone lion at the southern end of Westminster Bridge. Snapped with a Canon 500D using the EFS 55-250mm lens February 2019.